Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

In this autobiography, first published in 1929, poet Robert Graves traces the monumental and universal loss of innocence that occurred as a result of the First World War. Written after the war and as he was leaving his birthplace, he thought, forever, Good-Bye to All That bids farewell not only to England and his English family and friends, but also to a way of life. Tracing his upbringing from his solidly middle-class Victorian childhood through his entry into the war at age twenty-one as a patriotic captain in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, this dramatic, poignant, often wry autobiography goes on to depict the horrors and disillusionment of the Great War, from life in the trenches and the loss of dear friends, to the stupidity of government bureaucracy and the absurdity of English class stratification. Paul Fussell has hailed it as ""the best memoir of the First World War"" and has written the introduction to this new edition that marks the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war. An enormous success when it was first issued, it continues to find new readers in the thousands each year and has earned its designation as a true classic.

Synopsis

Graves' classic 1929 autobiography with its searing account of life in the trenches of the First World War has been re-published with the original 1929 text on the occasion of Graves' 100th anniversary.

Description

New ed., rev., with a prologue and an epilogue, rev. 2nd ed.

4.52

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating 4.5 (2 comments)

English poet, translator, novelist ("I, Claudius"), and man of letters Robert Graves's celebrated autobiography dwells largely on his service in World War I, but also discusses his upbringing, his unhappy school days, and his post-war years. Wry, observant, and understated, this is a textbook example of how to write a good memoir and his unsentimental views of war, heroism, and British values, which caused some controversy, is refreshing. Graves's literary career brought him into contact with many luminaries, including T.E. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, George "Everest" Mallory, H.G. Wells, and fellow poet and veteran Siegfried Sassoon. You might also like Pat Barker's novel "Regeneration."

Perhaps the single best first person account of warfare in the 20th century. Robert Graves story of his first thirty-three years of life is a powerful story of a man who lived through the last days of the old British Empire. His account of service on the western front during the worst of the trench stalemate is horrifying. I do not believe that in any other war have men been called upon to cross the same deadly ground month after month. The sure knowledge of death or wounding produced what Graves calls neurasthenia and we would call psychosis. It was not however enough to save a man from going over the top. The author dispels many myths about combat and shows what an ugly endeavor was the day to day business of trench warfare.
He calmly relates being badly wounded and left for dead. His family was actually informed that he had died of wounds. Following the war he reports on how little has been learned by the British Government and how general was the feeling that the Treaty of Versailles would lead to another conflict with Germany and that the war had all been for naught. With the social stratification of the British society setting back into place and the solders sacrifices being forgotten in 1929 Graves left England intending never to return. This book was meant to be both a good bye to England and a farewell to his youth.